Make Homemade Butter
Homemade Butter Recipe:
What you need:
1 Ball Jar (any size- I like the quart size but you can use a smaller one if you want to make less)
1 Large pinch of Salt
About 15 minutes of your time
Fill one ball jar half way with Heavy Whipping Cream. Put a lid on it and tighten it. Let sit out at room temperature overnight- or for approximately 12 hours. This is to aid in souring process.
After your patient wait. Grab on to the jar and add a large pinch of salt to the cream. Then with one hand on the top and bottom of the jar shake with decisive churns. Not too quick, think of it as sudden pulses timed at about once every second. (This does not have to be exact- I didn’t do exactly that, but I write this to let you know you aren’t jiggling it constantly)
When you start to wonder if you should open the lid or you will miss it, don’t. Just keep going. It happens really quick- it goes from regular liquid to whipped cream and then to butter surrounded in buttermilk with the jerk of the jar. When you see a conglomerate of light yellow butter in the middle (slightly bumpy and odd looking) you have it! You made butter!!
Butter is forming and swimming in a soft pool of buttermilk
Butter in jar after I emptied out the buttermilk
Empty the liquid (which is buttermilk) into a separate jar using a funnel. Rinse your butter with water making sure all the buttermilk is out, as this will cause spoilage. You can kneed it under the water, I would use cold though so it doesn’t make your butter any softer than it already is-this will be slimy, but you could just lick your fingers off!! 
After the water that comes off of the butter runs clear your butter is good to go. Transfer to a butter mold or smaller jar if you choose. Store both butter and buttermilk in the fridge. If you want a soft butter- you can leave part of it out for easy-creamy spreading. Grab your toast and slab on your homemade butter! Or better yet- just grab a spoon! YUM!
Have you made butter before?? Do you have any tips or something I left out?? Be sure and let me know. If you have even considered it you really should- it is SO easy that you’ll just want to keep it up!
Themocracy
I made butter as a kid (at home), but we used a churn. You’re right, it’s pretty simple!
I would LOVE a churn! Did you grow up on a farm?? I looked up churns on amazon- they are over $100 a pop! Eek! Not something I can *invest* in now although I would love to make a case for it.
It does sound like you had TONS of fun as a kid!!
I know nothing about making butter (at least until now). Why do you have to sour the cream?
I had to look it up, I knew it needed to but I couldn’t remember why. This is what I found: It is left out so that the acids can form as the cream sours. These acids help to break down the fat globules during churning so that they can stick to each other – thus aiding the creation of butter. The acids also provide a flavor to the butter that we no longer enjoy with manufactured butter.
Alyce you should try it with your boys!! It is only a little work and way worth it.
you made your own butter?!?! love it. i don’t think i’m that daring. knowing me, i’d get food poisoning. i do love honey butter and made it after a visit down south. it was so good on toast!
ps. did you look at ebay for a churn?
I have to tell you, if you can make whipped cream you can do it! Don’t even think of it as daring because it is so much easier than it seems. You wouldn’t get food poisoning! Just be sure to rinse it really well like the directions say and you’ll be loving it on toast tomorrow morning! So good.
I did look on ebay! Why did you find something I need to see??
You have also made real buttermilk. Not the stuff that is currently sold in stores.
Yeah, but I was expecting more of a ‘buttermilk’ taste- as in sour. I was very surprised that it wasn’t. My cream didn’t really seam to sour that much. But enough to get tons of good (great) butter. Maybe I should let it go for longer.
Hey Bethany,
I did it this way, but a friend told me if you want it to last longer (more than a few days) you have to wash the butter. Yes, seriously. This is kinda fun. You can do it by hand or in the blender.
This way is really easy.
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-make-butter/
This one gets your hands more dirty.
http://www.overthehillandonaroll.com/2009/06/how-to-make-butter-in-under-5-minutes.html
I’ve used both.
Congrats! Isn’t it fun?
I had already included in there ” Rinse your butter with water making sure all the buttermilk is out, as this will cause spoilage.” But I added a little more after that just to be sure that everyone saw that they needed to rinse the buttermilk out.
Thanks for pointing that out.
Mine has been in the fridge for over a week and would continue to keep- except that I plan on eating it tonight! I guess I will just have to make more.
Sorry I wasn’t clear about the washing, I hope it makes more sense now.Yes, I did the kneading thing too, it does get really slimy!
I think I read it too early and missed that. Hadn’t had my coffee yet. You’ve inspired me to do this again. It’s been a while. Thanks!